


until i'm out of breath for trying

by sosobriquet



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-03-09 23:28:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3268283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sosobriquet/pseuds/sosobriquet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, very rarely, Wick has an idea that isn't terrible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. let your hair hang long

****[muirmarie](http://muirmarie.tumblr.com/) asked: "Let your hair hang long / Yeah that old north wind is blowing through these cracked up ports / And you won't feel so strong" - Wick/Raven**  
**

 

Raven shivers at the chill reaching through her red coat, cheeks and ears bitten pink by the winter wind.

Wick starts shrugging out of his own without warning, and smiles at the stubborn look she gives him.

"Well, if you won’t take it," he says in his most reasonable of tones, "you could at least let me warm you up."

He leans in close, mindful of the the brace supporting her leg, and she reaches cold fingers into his pockets.

"We’re supposed to be working." She manages to sound reproachful, but the curl of her lips is anything but.

Wick hums like he’s agreeing, but he catches her face in his hands, palms warm against her cheeks even through his gloves. He works his fingers into her hair, and she leans into the touch.

"Maybe you could leave this down," he says into Raven’s ear, loosening her ponytail with gentle fingers. "When it’s cold," he clarifies, his breath warm against her neck, his nose cold. He presses a kiss just below her ear, and her hair falls loose around her shoulders.

Wick straightens, holding Raven’s hair band out to her. “It’s better like this, isn’t it?”

There’s a smirk hiding in his smile, and Raven punches him in the shoulder rather than answer.

That’s how he knows he’s right.


	2. "I won't compete with a ghost."

**[galfridian](http://galfridian.tumblr.com/) asked: Wick takes a step back, distancing himself from her for his sake for the first time, and says, "I won't compete with a ghost."**

 

Wick takes a step back, distancing himself from her for his sake for the first time, and says, "I won't compete with a ghost."

Raven leans toward him slightly, as if to follow, but her feet are planted firmly, and she does not budge any further than that.

"What makes you think it’s a competition?" she says, slow and sharp-edged. The wary look she gives him stings more than the worst of her anger.

"I know you think of him when we’re together," he drags the words up from the pit of his stomach, and out. "And that’s fine," he’s quick to add, "you can’t just forget him, and I don’t expect you to."

He fidgets with a little bit of something he’s suddenly found in his hands, too scared and desperate to look at her. “But I can’t replace him, Raven, and I’m not gonna try.”

"I didn’t ask you to," she says, and he doesn’t have to be looking to see the stubborn set of her jaw.

Wick leans back against his work bench and sighs, “only because you never ask for anything.” And because she’s never had to ask - he could see her trying to fit him into all the places Finn used to be and still is. So he tried to fill them up with smiles and rivalry and any little piece of himself at all.

He used to think he’d be happy just to find a little space in the cracks of her armor, but those cracks are sharp, and they’re flaying him to little pieces.

Raven is looking at him expectantly, hip braced against her table and grip on the edge white-knuckled, when he finds the guts to look up at her again.

He sets the bit of scrap behind him on the table and settles his hands there to hold himself up. “I love you, Raven, and I’ll always be your friend. But if you can’t find enough room to let me in, I can’t keep doing this.”

The look on her face makes him want to reach out and touch, to take it back. He leans into the table until the edge bites into his lower back.

"I’m trying," she says plaintively and steps toward him. For her, there had only ever really been Finn. And now there’s Abby, and Clarke, and Bellamy and Jasper and Monty, and all the rest of the 47. And Wick.

When she’s close enough, he reaches out to catch her elbow, lets her lean into him, and hide her face against his shoulder.

"How do you love so many people, all at the same time?" she asks the curve of his shoulder, tucking her hands between her ribs and his.

"Well," he says softly, letting his chin come to rest on her head, "you could start by letting me in." He wraps an arm around her, loose and gentle. "And then you make room."


End file.
